Shifter for belts.



Patented July I0, IQOUI.

A. B. WALES.'

SHIFTER FOR BELTS.

(Application filed Aug. 29, 1899.)

(No ModeL) m: Noam: PIYERS co. Pnorc-LWH O" WASHINGTON, n. c.

NITED STATES;

ALFRED B. WALES, OF ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHIFTER FOR BELTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,329, dated July 10, 1900.

Application filed August 29, 1899. Serial No. 728,854. (No model.)

of this character involving in its organization a shifter proper which is operable to rapidly ship a belt from one pulley to another or to slide the movable member of a clutch away from its companion, thereby tocontrol a machine driven from a shaft carrying such pulleys or clutch.

Theimproved appliance in the form thereof represented in the accompanying drawings includes a shifter, mechanical means for moving the same in one direction, a latch fornormally holding the shifter against movement, and means for tripping said latch.

In the present case the latch is electrically controlled, it being held in its effective or working position by a device in the nature of a secondary latch and constituting the armature or electromagnet, and said latch is also set automatically by the shifter itself on one of the strokes thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation ofthe shifter constructed in accordance with my invention in a simple embodiment thereof and showing the form of the shifter proper when governing a belt. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a plan View of a shifter-holding latch.

The different parts of the apparatus are sustained by a suitable body portion or frame, which may be of any suitable character, the same being shown consisting of a base-plate 12, having uprights 13 at its ends constituting a convenient support for the shifter,which is shown as mounted for sliding movement, and said parts are inclosed by a housing or casing 14, secured by means of screws or otherwise to the outer edges of the base-plate 12 and the end uprights 13.

The shipper is represented as being of a construction to ship a belt, and it is designatedin a general way byS and is composed of the parallel side bars 15 and 16, connected at their forward or working ends by the crosspieces 17 and 18, such construction forming a loop or opening in which the belt can travel and the latter being alternately moved back and forth by the cross-pieces or fingers 17 and 18. The longitudinal and parallel side bars are supported for sliding movement on the uprights or offsets 13, the latter having alined openings to receive said bars.

I The shifter S is positively actuated in one direction by a suitable mechanical device, as a spring, and such motion is utilized in the present case'to transfer a moving belt from a fixed or tight pulley to a loose pulley, so that the operation of a machine driven from a shaft carrying such pulleys can be properly governed.

The shifter S is held in its retracted position shown in the drawings by a suitable latch, a convenient type of which will be hereinafter described, and when the said latch is tripped the shifter will be released and will be instantly shot forward or advanced to what is represented as the right, and for preventing the movement of the same beyond a certain point the shifter will be provided with a stop or stops, it being shown provided with two and they being denoted by 19a'nd 20, respectively, and secured to the main bars 15 and 16. These stops 19 and 20 are of substantially disk form and are adapted to abut against what is shown as the left-hand oifset 13 when the requisite movement has taken place.

The longitudinal side bars 15 and 16 substantially midway between their ends are united by a fixed cross-piece 21, which. may be a plate, and the ends of which are sleeved on and fixed to the said bars. This crosspiece or plate 21 has a downturned flange or projection 22, adapted, as will hereinafter appear, to be engaged by the latch to hold the shipper in its retracted position shown in the drawings.

In Fig. 2 the side bars 15 and 16 are represented as encircled by coiled protractile springs 23 and 24:, the ends of which bear against the cross-piece or plate 21 and the left-hand offsetlS, respectively.

The latch is denoted in a general way by L, and it is of substantially U shape, the side arms being denoted by 25 and 26, respectively, and the transverse piece which unites the same being denoted by 27.

The latch L is ofthe pivoted gravity type, and the opposite arms thereof have openings to receive the pivot 28, supported by the ears or projections 29 and 30 upon the baseplate 12.

The latch L serves to hold the shifter S in its retracted position, and the two bars are so constructed that the shifter will set the latch or move the same into working position during its return movement, and when thus set the latch may be held by a device in the na ture ofan auxiliary latch. The side arms 25 and 26 of the latch are recessed, as at 31 and 32, adjacent to the transverse portion 27 thereof, this construction producing the shoulders or detents 33 and 34, which are adapted to engage the downturned portion or catch 22 upon the shifter S, as clearly shown by full lines in Fig. 1. When the latch is released, it can fall, and this operation will carry the shoulders 33 and 34 below the offset or catch 22, so that the belt-shipper Will be free and will be instantly thrust to the right, so as to transfer a belt from one pulley to another. On the return movement of the shipper, which can be effected in some suitable manner, the

offset or catch 22 will strike the transverse piece 27, and as the motion is continued the latch will be swung upward until it can be engaged by a controlling or holding device, (denoted by 35.) Said part 35 is pivoted upon the frame and is normally held in its retracted position against the stop 36 upon the baseplate 12 by means of the usual spring 37. The controller or holder35 for the latch, which engages under the same, as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, is the armature of an electromagnet M of ordinary construction, secured to the right-hand offset 13 and electrically connected with a suitable battery or other generator. (Not shown.) WVhen the magnet M is energized, it will attract its armature 35, drawing it to the right and moving it from under the free ends of the latch-arms 25 and 26, so that the latch will be released, as will the shifter S, whereby the latter can be moved by the coiled springs 23 and 2st to effect the shipment of the belt, and in Fig. 1 the latch and certain of the other parts are shown occupying theirshifted positionsbydottedlines. When the shipper S is returned to its initial position, it will reset the latch L in the manner previously set forth, and as the arms 25 and 26 move upward their rounded ends 40 willarmature, the latter will be swung under the same by the force of its spring, thereby to 7 hold the latch in effective position.

The invention is not limited to the exact parts previously set forth nor to their arrangement in the manner previously indicated, as these points may be variously modified within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a device of the class specified, a shifter; mechanical means to force the shifter forward; a latch located to hold the shifter in its retracted position; and a member shiftable independently of the latch for holding said latch in its effective position.

2. In a device of the class specified, a shifter; mechanical means to force the shifter forward; a latch located to hold the shifter in its retracted position; and an electrically-controlled member shiftable relatively to the latch and serving to hold said latch in its effective position.

3. In a device of the class specified, ashifter; mechanical means to force the shifter forward; a latch located to hold the shifter in its retracted position; and an electromagnet, the armature of which is shiftable relatively to and is adapted to engage said latch to hold the same in its effective position.

4. In a device of the class specified, a shifter, a spring for forcing the shifter forward, a latch located to hold the shifter normally in its retracted position, and a member shiftable independently of the latch for holding the latch in its effective position.

5. In adevice of the class specified, a shifter comprising two rods; bearings for supporting the same; a cross-piece uniting the rods; coiled springs encircling the rods and acting against the cross-piece and one of said bearthe same; a crosspiece uniting the rods;

coiled springs encircling the rods and acting against the cross-piece and one of said bearings; alatch located to hold the'shifter in its retracted position with the spring compressed; and stops secured to said rods and adapted to engage one of the bearings, thereby to limit the forward movements of the shifter.

7. In a device-of theclass specified, a springact'uated shifter; an offset upon the same; a latch having two arms united by a transverse piece and eachof the arms having a notch adapted to receive said offset; and an electromagnet the armature of which is adapted to sustain the free ends of the latch-arms.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED B. WALES. Witnesses:

HEATH SUTHERLAND, BLANOI-IE L. CHILD. 

